Running Oak Capital LLC Raises Position in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC)

Running Oak Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) by 29.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,636 shares of the railroad operator's stock after acquiring an additional 6,482 shares during the period. Running Oak Capital LLC's holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $6,782,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NSC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,089,164 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $4,714,927,000 after purchasing an additional 139,485 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,608,080 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $2,020,318,000 after purchasing an additional 918,559 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,694,573 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $1,098,472,000 after purchasing an additional 113,648 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,020,392 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $945,385,000 after purchasing an additional 580,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,968,582 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $931,426,000 after purchasing an additional 75,865 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company's stock.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:NSC traded up $3.55 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $256.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,035,963 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,241,459. The firm has a market cap of $57.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 1 year low of $201.63 and a 1 year high of $277.60. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $236.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $238.99.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The railroad operator reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.72 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 27.40% and a return on equity of 19.65%. Norfolk Southern's revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.49 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern's payout ratio is 36.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on NSC. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $269.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $247.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $271.00 to $270.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $255.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $267.24.

About Norfolk Southern

Norfolk Southern Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the rail transportation of raw materials, intermediate products, and finished goods in the United States. The company transports agriculture, forest, and consumer products comprising soybeans, wheat, corn, fertilizers, livestock and poultry feed, food products, food oils, flour, sweeteners, ethanol, lumber and wood products, pulp board and paper products, wood fibers, wood pulp, beverages, and canned goods; chemicals consist of sulfur and related chemicals, petroleum products comprising crude oil, chlorine and bleaching compounds, plastics, rubber, industrial chemicals, chemical wastes, sand, and natural gas liquids; metals and construction materials, such as steel, aluminum products, machinery, scrap metals, cement, aggregates, minerals, clay, transportation equipment, and military-related products; and automotive, including finished motor vehicles and automotive parts, as well as coal.